|
The Last Stand of the Fourth Marines - Corregidor May 1942
Posted on: 2014-02-18 16:53:35 By John Dudek @ The Wargamer On May 6, 1942, a hellish and seemingly endless staccato drum roll beat of Japanese heavy artillery explosions blasted and smothered the US held Philippine island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay. In the communication's lateral of Corregidor's Malinta Tunnel, US Army radio man Corporal Irving Strobing pounded away on his telegraph key. He was speaking to his radio counterpart in far-off Hawaii. Concrete dust loosened by the Japanese artillery blast concussions sifted down from the ceiling above, or was stirred up from the concrete floor below. The tunnel's generator coughed and the lights momentarily dimmed for an instant, as a weary and hungry Strobing paused, then continued signaling: "They are not yet near. We are waiting for God only knows what. How about a chocolate soda? Not many. Not here yet. Lots of heavy fighting going on. We've only got about one hour, twenty minutes before.... We may have to give up by noon. We don't know yet. They are throwing men and shells at us and we may not be able to stand it. They have been shelling us faster than you can count.... They bring in the wounded every minute. We will be waiting for you guys to help. This is the only thing I guess that can be done. General Wainwright is a right guy and we are willing to go on for him, but shells are dropping all night, faster than hell. Damage terrific. Too much for guys to take. Corregidor used to be a nice place, but its haunted now. Withstood a terrific pounding. Enemy heavy cross-shelling and bombing. They have got us all around and from skies. Men here all feeling bad, because of terrific nervous strain of the siege...” Read on... |